Reliability of Sources

Pseudo scientists and Skeptics

Ancient sites that moved Colossal rocks

"If you give me a big enough lever I can move the world"
Archemedes

"If you give me a big enough lever I'll need another lever to pick up the first lever!!"
Archemedes's distant relative

sites with colossal stones over 10 tons are marked A1
sites with colossal stones over 30 tons are marked A2
sites with colossal stones over 50 tons are marked A3
sites with colossal stones over 100 tons are marked A4
sites with colossal stones over 400 tons are marked A5

Calculating the Size of these Colossal Stones

If you know the volume of the stone and the density you just multiply them and get the weight.

For example the largest trilithon stone is approximately 3.4 meters by 4.5 meters by 19 meters. (sources: sacred sites and natural stone.com) That comes to 290 cubic meters. If the stone weighs 3.5 tons per meter then the 1,000 ton estimate commonly used would be accurate. However the most reliable estimate seems to be about 750 tons which would mean a density of almost 2.6 tons. This would be higher than the average density for limestone but within the typical range. source: Alouf, Michael M., 1944: History of Baalbek. American Press. p. 129

The average weight of granite is about 3 tons per cubic meter according to Wikipedia. Limestone is supposed to be a softer rock so it is lighter. According to Natural stone.com limestone is about 2.4 tons per cubic meter. High density limestone may be 2.9 tons per cubic meter. Marble or sandstone is about 2.7 tons per cubic meter. These estimates have a margin of era of about 10 % but they are good enough to recognize some obvious mistakes.

After looking at a lot of stories about these colossal stones a large number of exaggerations aren't surprising. Many of these estimates may have to be revised since there are so many contradictory numbers. The most reliable source will always be the stones themselves.

This doesn't mean there isn't a major mystery and that the Ancients didn't move an enormous amount of colossal stone but it clearly means that a lot of the details need to be confirmed. If the experts did a better job fact checking most of this would have already been done.

An example of how big the difference between estimates is shown in the following site:

How they moved the Colossal rocks

"We decide to put the theory to the test. At a place called Keates Quarry, there are plenty of stones that are about the two-ton weight of the typical bluestones at Stonehenge. Julian has arranged for a bunch of guys from the Swanage & Wareham Rugby Club to help us give the megalith a pull."

"Just dragging the stone on the bare ground is tough and terribly awkward. But after placing it on a wooden sled then placing the sled on a wooden track, it is surprisingly easy to move. In fact, we barely have to pull at all to move this two-ton slab. And Julian says he's done this with one of the massive, 50 ton sarsen stones, and found that to be just as manageable. To move the stones as many miles across Southern England, the creators of Stonehenge would've had to build a lot of track, or move and rebuild track in pieces, as the stones migrated to their final destination."

There is a picture that shows them pulling the sled on the track. There are at least 15 or 16 men pulling maybe a couple more since they are crowded together it is hard to count them. That is approximately 8 men to pull each ton.

The following Quote is from a PBS website:

"Theorist: Thor Heyerdahl"
"Date: 1955 - 1956"
"Location: Easter Island, Ahu Nau Nau - Anakena"
"Moai: 13-foot, 10-ton original moai from Easter Island"

"Method: Tied statue on its back to a sledge (sled) made from a tree fork. 180 islanders pulled the statue using two parallel ropes tied to each side. Recent tradition supports this theory, as sledge transportation was believed to have been enhanced by the use of lubricants such as sweet potatoes, palm fronds, and taro root."

"Limitations: Requires sizable work force. If it takes 180 people to move a 10-ton moai, it would take an estimated 1500 people to move the largest moai successfully erected on an ahu, Paro, which weighs 82 tons."

Ancient Sites That Made an Incredible Number of Sculptures

These statues were especially hard when they used granite which is the hardest stone that I know of used for sculpture. the ancient Egyptians had copper and bronze but they were to soft to make an impression on granite. They may have used 10 pound dolerite balls to chip away at the granite. These were a basaltic rock even harder than granite. each blow would only remove a few flakes and it would take weeks or months to get much done. heating then cooling the granite may have helped create cracks and chip it away a little faster. what ever method they used was incredibly labor intensive and tedious. Granite was only a fraction of the stone the Egyptians used but it was still a lot when you consider the Egyptians used over 50 million tons of stone. Most of this was softer limestone but there were still over a dozen obelisks up to 455 tons and 1 unfinished obelisk almost 1,200 tons, a 1,000 ton statue of Ramses II, lining for dozens of burial chambers, columns for some temples etc. the Romans also created a lot of statues and columns out of granite but they may have had better metal to work with. source: Time Life Lost Civilizations series:Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile (1993) p. 54-57, Edwards, Dr. I.E.S.: The Pyramids of Egypt 1986/1947 p. 269-273

The following quote from an inscription by a sculptor from ancient Egypt describes how on artisan may have felt about his work:
"I was an artist skilled in my art, pre-eminant in my learning .... I knew (how to represent) the movements of the image of a man and the carriage of a woman... the poising of the arm to bring the hippopotamus low and the movements of the runner...No one suceeds in all this (task) but only I and the eldest son of my body" source: Edwards, Dr. I.E.S.: The Pyramids of Egypt 1986/1947 p. 209

Sites with large numbers of sculptures are marked with a B

Ancient Sites That Built Colossal Statues out of "Living Rock"

Ancient Sites That Built Structures With Extremely Tight Joints

Sites with extremely tight joints are marked with a D

Definition of Cult structures and probable cult structures

One example of probable cult structures is if you see a large structure that requires advanced knowledge in some fields and an obsessive amount of labor for a structure that provides little or no benefit for the people building the structure.

Cult structures are usually spectacular projects that astounds people but they provide little if any practical value. I don't mean a reasonable amount of beautiful artwork that people can take pride in. I like art as much as anyone else and if someone enjoys creating something I see no problem with that. As I wrote in the sculpture section there are some artisans who took great pride in their work and it would have brought them status in there culture. If they enjoyed their work this wouldn't be a problem. But if a large number of people are coerced into building an amazing Temple then they are not even allowed to enjoy it since it is the property of a king or pharaoh then the public is being used as slaves. The vast majority of these Ancient Wonders are spectacular and they are great pieces of art work but they aren't something that I would recommend society does again on such a large scale. In order to understand how these structures probably had to have been made you have to understand how early religion developed. You also have to understand how tyrannical leaders were able to keep their followers in a state of slavery or virtual slavery.

In many cases it is virtually guaranteed that a system was set up to teach people from birth to do certain jobs. However they wouldn't have taught people to stand up for their own rights. They wouldn't have taught people to figure out what is in their own best interest and do it. They wouldn't have taught people to form their own government and set up a democracy. Censorship would have been routine. They wouldn't have taught the public how to avoid wars quite the opposite the leaders of ancient governments would have been looking for ways to lead them into war when they thought it was in the best interest of the leader. Leaders would have been primarily interested in glorifying themselves and increasing their own power. Education systems would have been controlled by the governments and they would have been used to stick up for the best interest of those that governed not those that were governed. People would have been taught only what they needed to know for their particular job and if possible no more than that.

Many of these societies spent most or all there spare time either fighting wars or building monuments to glorify their leaders. One of the most obvious examples is the Taj Mahal where thousands of people put an enormous amount of time and work so that Shah Jahan could glorify his deceased wife. This did little if any good for the vast majority of the people of India quite the opposite. In stead of feeding the public and setting up a better education system they spent their time glorifying some one who could no longer benefit from it. Even today the majority of Indians receive little if any benefit for the Taj Mahal. It is used primarily as a tourist attraction for the rich. the story about Shah Jahan is considered romantic by many.

Most of these civilizations collapsed sometimes shortly after monumental building projects like Angkor Wat. the large amount of work put into glorifying King Suryavarman took up so much work that it supposedly led to the downfall of the empire. This was later restored but eventually it collapsed again permanently this time. They are great monuments now and they could be used for educational purposes as well including learning not to make the same mistakes they did. These monuments came at to high a price for those that built them and people are still paying the price today. If they had spent their time doing more practical things like feeding and educating the public first then spent a portion of the remaining time building monuments they could have built a much greater society that would have lasted longer. And without the many wars that led to the destruction of so many monuments in the long run they would have had just as many monuments.

Thou Shalt Worship Graven Idols

For many of these people life was dominated by the necessities of life, construction of monuments and war. Little if any time was devoted to education and figuring out what is actually in there own best interest. There are a lot of great art works no doubt and if this was done as a hobby by the people that they enjoyed passing time this would be a great thing but that isn't the way it worked it was coerced without any consideration for the best interest of the people building them. They only considered the most effective ways of manipulating them. The lower classes were routinely forced to do the work and the tyrants routinely took credit for the work. People like Ramses, Cheops, Carracalla Pakal etc. didn't actually do the work to create these monuments. They just dominated the actual workers and took the credit from those that deserved the credit.

Even today they still worship beautiful churches, statues and stone replicas of the ten commandments like Graven Idols. B

Scientists and Pseudo scientists

Whether it is pseudo scientist or traditional scientists they often present there theories as package deals that your supposed to take or leave in their entirety. This is less likely to happen when different traditional scientist disagree but if the pseudo scientist create a theory to explain an unsolved mystery like how they moved these colossal rocks it is often presented as a package deal and ridiculed in its entirety. If the theory were put forward by a traditional scientist they might be more likely to dismiss only the part that is flawed or at least try to.

"The great mystery of the ruins of Baalbek, and indeed one of the greatest mysteries of the ancient world, concerns the massive foundation stones beneath the Roman Temple of Jupiter. The courtyard of the Jupiter temple is situated upon a platform, called the Grand Terrace, which consists of a huge outer wall and a filling of massive stones. The lower courses of the outer wall are formed of huge, finely crafted and precisely positioned blocks. They range in size from thirty to thirty three feet in length, fourteen feet in height and ten feet in depth, and weigh approximately 450 tons each. Nine of these blocks are visible on the north side of the temple, nine on the south, and six on the west (others may exist but archaeological excavations have thus far not dug beneath all the sections of the Grand Terrace). Above the six blocks on the western side are three even larger stones, called the Trilithon, whose weight is about 1000 tons each. These great stones vary in size between sixty-three and sixty-five feet in length, with a height of fourteen feet six inches and a depth of twelve feet." source: Sacred Sites

Several other sources have confirmed the 1,000 ton estimate of the Trilithon stones. At least one other estimate of the Trilithon stone is over 800 tons.

However based on the assumption that the dimensions that Sacred Sites are correct I calculated the weight of the stones. If they are made out of limestone they are about 700 tons. According to Michael Alouf the trilithon stones weigh an estimated 750 tons. This is within the density range with 290 tons therefore I assume this is the most credible weight estimate for Baalbek available. source: Alouf, Michael M., 1944: History of Baalbek. American Press. p. 129 The lower courses that he estimates are 450 tons are only 300 tons if they are limestone assuming his measurements are correct.

According to the history channel show "Man Moment Machine" Alexander had to build a land bridge twice before he could defeat the Tyrians. The Tyrians were able to ruin his first bridge. Building this bridge probably would have involved using well over 10,000 (perhaps over 20-30,000) cubic meters of rock ruble dirt etc. He would have done this while maintaining a siege and he would have been under fire. this would be a monumental task even under normal circumstances but to do it under fire is truly astounding. He would have also had to deal with the currents which is part of the reason the first bridge failed. Since the tides come in and out from the Atlantic in the west; The currents on the eastern Mediterranean wouldn't have been as strong as on the west near the pillars of Hercules; but they would still be strong enough to make this monumental task even tougher.

New discoveries indicates that Alexander may have made long term alteration in the coast of Tyre according to Archeology.org.

"Huge stone "bricks" were laid – the largest measuring 44.6 feet by 11 feet and weighing 628 tons , while most were in the range of 2.5 by 3.5 by 15 feet." source: wikipedia

The history channel cites similar measurements for this colossal stone they claim it is 44.6 feet by 11.25 feet by 16.5 feet and weighs about 567 tons. I have heard that there may be more colossal foundation stones although not as big as the 500 plus ton stone. The stones in the wall that is visible to the public are mostly 10 to 30 tons as far as I know.

The Harbor at Caesarea was built by King Herod between 22 BCE and 9 BCE. It was one of the greatest engineering wonders of it's time. It was the first major construction project to use concrete that would set under water. The length of the southern break water is 500 meters. The length of the northern break water is 200 meters. The largest stone block measures 5.5 meters by 1.25 meters by 1.25 meters (over 20 tons). The largest concrete block measures 11.5 meters by 15 meters by 2.4 meters. The concrete blocks were created by floating a form on the water and filling it with concrete, as it filled up it would sink into place and the concrete would set under water. These would have weighed over 1,000 tons. There would be no second chance if they didn't get it right the first time. source: "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World", edited by Chris Scarre (1999) Thames & Hudson, London

The most famous and best preserved tomb at Petra is the Treasury of Pharaoh which is 39.1 meters tall and 25.3 meters wide. this tomb and many others were carved out of sandstone.
The Urn tomb was 26 meters high by 16.5 meters wide.
The Corintian tomb was 28 meters high by 27.5 meters wide.
The Deir tomb was 48.3 meters high by 46.8 meters wide.
The Palace tomb was over 46 meters high by 49 meters wide.
Few if any records of the construction of these tombs were preserved from the first century BCE.

Nimrud
The Palaces of Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III include many statues carvings etc. There were at least 12 colossal lions or bulls weighing 10-30 tons.

King Arshurnasirpal II who reigned from 883-859 BCE built a new capital at Nimrud. Thousands of men worked to build a 5 mile long wall surrounding the city and a grand palace. There were many inscriptions carved into limestone including one that said "The palace of cedar, cypress, juniper, boxwood, mulberry, pistachio wood, and tamarisk, for my royal dwelling and for my lordly pleasure for all time, I founded therein. Beasts of the mountains and of the seas, of white limestone and alabaster I fashioned and set them up on its gates." The inscriptions also described plunder stored at the palace. "Silver, gold, lead, copper and iron, the spoil of my hand from the lands in which I had brought under my sway, in great quantities I took and placed therein." The inscriptions also described great feasts he had to celebrate his conquests. However his victims were horrified by his conquests. The text also said "Many of the captives I have taken and burned in a fire. Many I took alive from some I cut off their hands to the wrists, from others I cut off their noses, ears and fingers; I put out the eyes of many of the soldiers. I burned their young men women and children to death." About a conquest in another vanquished city he wrote "I flayed the nobles as many as many as rebelled and spread their skins out on the piles." These shock tactics brought success in 877 BCE after a march to the Mediterranean he announced "I cleaned my weapons in the deep sea and performed sheep-offerings to the gods."

His son Shalmaneser III picked up where he left off. He spent 31 of his 35 year reign waging war. After a battle near the river Orentes with the Syrians he boasted "I slew 14,000 of their warriors with the sword. I rained destruction on them. The plain was to small for their bodies to fall; the wide countryside was used to bury them. With their corpses I spanned the Orontes as with a bridge." At Nimrud he built a palace that far surpassed his fathers, it was twice the size and it covered an area of about 12 acres and included more than 200 rooms.

In 828 BCE his own son rebelled against him and was joined by 27 Assyrian cities including Ninevah and Assur. This conflict lasted until 821 BCE 3 years after Shalmaneser's death.

In 1847 after discovering more than half a dozen winged pair of colossi Statues of Lions and Bulls weighing up to 30 tons in Nimrud Henry Layard set out to bring 2 of the colossi weighing 10 tons each including 1 lion and 1 bull to London. After 18 months and several near disasters he succeeded in bringing them to a British museum. This was a monumental task that involved loading them onto a wheeled cart. It was lowered with a complex system of pulleys and levers operated by dozens of men. The cart was towed by 300 men in a procession lead by Layard on horseback. He initially tried to hook the cart up to a team of buffalo and have them haul it. However the Buffalo stubbornly refused to move. Then it was loaded onto a barge which required 600 goatskins and sheepskins to keep it afloat. To build this barge Layard hired a debt ridden raft maker to do what other people said couldn't be done. After arriving in London a ramp was built to haul them up the steps and into the museum on rollers.

Assyria had more warlike Kings including Tiglath-Pileser and Sargon II who established a new capital at Dur Sharrukin now known as Khorsabad.

Khorsabad
Sargon II ruled from 722-705 BCE
The Palace of Sargon the second in Khorsabad includes statues weighing 10-40 tons. Sargon supposedly lost at least one of these in the river.

Sargon II brought the Assyrian empire to the height of it's power before he was killed in 705 BCE while putting down an uprising at Tabal in the Taurus mountains.

Paul Emile Botta and Victor Place attempted to move 2 additional 30 ton colossi to Paris from Khorsabad by in 1853. In order to facilitate their shipment to Paris they were sawed in pieces and they still ran into problems. One of them fell into the river into the Tigris never to be retrieved. The other made it to Paris. They made a plaster replica to replace the lost one in 1957. I don't know how much work a stone one would have been but apparently they thought it was to much.

In 1928 Edward Chiera unearthed a colossal Bull estimated to weigh 40 tons In Khorsabad. This was split into three large fragments. the torso alone weighed about 20 tons. this was shipped to Chicago. It was to big to fit through the tunnels and had to be rerouted from New York to Chicago via New Orleans.

Nineveh
The Palace of Sennacherib in Ninevah was built approximately 702-693 BCE
The citadel walls surrounding the palace were about 12 kilometers long. The wall system consisted of an ashlar stone retaining wall about 6 m. high surmounted by a mud brick wall about 10 m. high and 15 m. thick. The stone retaining wall had projecting stone towers spaced about every 18 m. The stone wall and towers were topped by three-step merlons.

The Palace was approximately 503 by 242 meters. The solid foundation was made out of limestone blocks and mud bricks; it was 22 meters tall. This is a total of about 2.68 million cubic meters (about 160 million bricks). The walls on top were made out of mud brick they were an additional 20 meters tall. It included 120 colossal door figures weighing up to 30 tons. These include many Winged lions or Bulls with a mans head. These were transported 30 miles from Quarries at Balatai and they had to be lifted up 65 feet once they arrived at the site presumably by a ramp. There are also 9880 feet of carved stone panels. Carved stone reliefs include a drawings of them moving one of the colossal statues. They include picture records every step including carving the statues and transporting them on a barge. one picture show 44 men towing a colossal statue. The carving shows 3 men directing the operation while standing on the Colossus. Once the statues arrived at there final destination the final carving was done. Most of the statue weigh between 10 and 30 tons. A modern experiment required 180 men to tow a 10 ton colossus on Easter Island in the 1950's

The stone carvings in the walls include many battle scenes, impalings and scenes showing his men parading the spoils of war before Sennacherib. He also bragged about his conquests, He wrote the following about Babylon "It's inhabitants, young and old, I did not spare, and with their corpses I filled the streets of the city." He later wrote about a battle in Lachish "And Hezekiah of Judah who had not submitted to my yoke...him I shut up in Jerusalem his royal city like a caged bird. Earthworks I threw up against him, and anyone coming out of his city gate I made pay for his crime. His cities which I had plundered I had cut off from his land."

In January 681 He came to a sudden death. 1 version of his death claims he was killed by his own son another claims he was killed when a colossal statue fell on him and it was interpreted by some that the gods sought divine retribution.

Sennacherib was succeeded by Esarhaddon and then Ashurbanipal who continued waging wars and boasting about conquests. source: Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Mesopotamia: The Mighty Kings.

Persepolis also has a large number of colossal stones probably some that may have weighed over 40 tons when they were moved but I don't have exact figures. If you look at the pictures you can tell that there were a lot of colossal stones. Unfortunately Alexander destroyed a lot of the monuments so we may never know how spectacular it once was. The Apadana was a total of 12,100 square meters. It included 36 columns 20 meters tall, in the great hall and additional 36 columns in the facades. The terrace was 450 meters wide by 280 meters deep by 14 meters high. It included 872 columns. There are many wall carvings and other statues including the Gate of All Nations which appears similar to the colossal statues in Ninevah, Khorsabad and Nimrud. If this was carved out of a single stone it would weigh 30 - 40 tons. source: "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World" edited by Chris scarre 1999 (Thames and Hudson)

these clossal statues and caves were carved out of sandstone.
height of statue is 55 meters, the height of the niche is 58 meters the width at base of the niche is 24 meters, the width at summit is 16 meters rough guess of volume of sandstone excavated is 10,000 cubic meters for this statue alone more for surrounding caves and at least one other colossal statue (37 meters tall). source: "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World" edited by Chris scarre 1999 (Thames and Hudson)

The Egyptians carved over a dozen colossal Obelisks weighing more than 100 tons. the largest one is approximately 450 tons and 105 feet tall. these were stood up on end. Not only is it extremely difficult to move stones of this size but balancing them would be an amazing task. Many have remained standing for thousands of years. a few have fallen over this isn't surprising the surprising thing is that any of them didn't fall over.
One theory on how they erected these obelisks involves building an enormous mud brick wall 50 feet high with a ramp to tow the obelisk up it. There would be a shaft filled with sand then after they got the obelisk on top they would remove the sand lowering it into the shaft. This would be an incredible amount of work. This is pictured on p. 56-7 of Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile (1993). There is an engraving showing giant "gods" lifting them with a rope. The obelisks were only waste high on the gods.
Another theory could be similar to the way they erected statues on Easter Island described in Aku Aku. This would be a much larger scale operation the biggest ones they erected were no more than 30 tons. They didn't erect any of the largest Moai this way let alone obelisks upto 455 tons. The 455 ton obelisk was erected in Rome approximately 1500 CE. Several smaller ones were also erected in the nineteenth century using cranes which the Egyptians didn't have.
A drawing of a relief from the temple of Hatshepsut shows a pair of the obelisks being transported to Karnak on a barge being towed. They are strapped to a sledge that is used to haul them on land. source: "Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World" edited by Chris scarre 1999

"Its most famous attractions are the great Colossi of Memnon—twin 59-foot (21-meter) statues of Amenhotep III that flank the temple's entrance."
"The temple originally contained six colossi of Amenhotep III in a seated position, which stood in pairs at three pylons arranged about 330 feet (100 meters) apart. Of the pylons and statues, only the Colossi of Memnon, near the first pylon, remain intact." source: National Geographic
National geographic is generally one of the most reliable sources around but apparently they need some better proof readers. The statement refers to 59 foot statue which is right and then it translate it into 21 meters which is wrong it should be almost 18 meters. "In front of the ruins of Ramessuem is the base of the colossus of Ramesses that once stood 17m (about 69 feet) high. The statue would have weighed more than 1,000 tons and was bought from Aswan in one piece." source:touregypt.net
Touregypt did the same thing only in reverse. Seemingly reliable sources are making sloppy mistakes and they are often cut and pasted by others in the internet age. An effort to check the math needs to be made in order to get reliable figures these are not isolated mistakes I have seen many more of them. I have made a few myself but I'm not part of an institution that claims to have a lot of fact checkers.
The Colossi of Memnon at the temple of Pharaoh Amenhotep III weigh 700 tons each. This estimate has been reported consistently. The 1,000 ton estimate for the statue of Ramses has also been reported consistently. However they should still be checked as I noted in the Baalbek section the 1,000 ton estimate may not add up.
the following is from "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World" edited by Chris Scarre 1999
They estimate the height of the Ramses statue at 62 feet (19 meters), they claim the 59 feet (17 meter) estimate includes the base it stands on. They keep the same weight estimates. At least they didn't contradict themselves. The colossi of Memnon statues were obtained in a quarry Gebel el-Ahmar. This is 420 miles away. They were to heavy to transport by boat so it had to be towed across the land by hand. The Ramses statue was supposedly transported 170 miles the same way.
They also cite fragments of 4 granite Colossi of Ramses found in Tanis (northern Egypt). Estimated height is 69 to 92 feet (21 to 92 meters). Like four of the six colossi of Amenhotep III there are no longer complete remains so it is based partly on unconfirmed estimates. If they can cite the work and check for mistakes it may show evidence of much more colossal statues than commonly believed.
There is also a smaller one estimated at 58 tons of Djehutyhotep (C. 1850 BCE). This seems comparatively small but it is worth mentioning because there is a wall relief showing the transport of this one. It shows 172 men pulling it. this is about 3 men per ton. They claim that experiment have shown that this can be done. They did not cite the details of this experiment. As I said in the section about moving stones other experiments seem to contradict this claim. If in doubt think about whether you or anyone you know can tow 733 lbs. Then keep in mind it also involves a lot of people coordinating together and getting in each others way.
This is the official version.
There are at least 2 colossi of a seated Ramses II at Luxor rough estimated height and weight 11 meters 150 to 225 tons. there were supposed to be a total of 6 commissioned for this temple but I think the other 4 were smaller perhaps between 50 and 100 tons. 1 of them is just inside the gate behind the 2 larger ones. There were also 2 colossal statues commissioned for the temple of Karnak.
A turn of the century photo shown in Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile shows a colossal statue of Ramses II that must be at least 10 meters tall rough estimate 70 to 100 tons. this is 1 of 11 Colossi commissioned for the Temple of Ptah. These may include a 47 ton statue that was discovered in 1962 and brought to Memphis Tennessee for a show on Ramses II in 1984.
A 25 foot tall statue of Meryetamen daughter of Ramses II was found at Akhmim estimated weight 40 to 60 tons. There were over 20 colossal statues commissioned by Ramses probably much more. These don't include an even larger number of life-sized statues he would have commissioned or the in situ statues at Abu Simbal.
In 2006, one of Cairo's landmarks, a colossal 100 tonne, 11 meter high pink granite statue of Ramses II, was moved from the polluted city to a spot near the pyramids and closer to its original site.

height: 20.22 meters length: 72.55 meters width: 10 meters (waist) 19.1 meters (haunches) source: "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World" edited by Chris scarre 1999 (Thames and Hudson)

The Pyramid of Cheops has sides measuring 230 meters long and it is 146 meters high. the volume is approximately 2,500,000 cubic meters. The weight is approximately 6,250,000 tons
The entrance has 4 colossal herringbone blocks forming the roof of the entrance that must weigh over 30 tons each. there were at least 2 passages that were blocked by 3 granite slabs each.
The kings chamber measures 10.45m wide x 5.2m deep x 5.8m high. The kings chamber is lined with granite blocks estimated weight 5 to 15 tons that was brought from Aswan 935 km (580 miles) to the south. They were transported on barges down the river. On arrival at the harbor the blocks were loaded onto wooden sledges and dragged to the pyramid. The chamber is roofed with huge granite beams weighing 50 to 80 tonnes.
The stones of the great pyramid were fit together with extremely tight joints. the mean opening was only 1 fiftieth of an inch. this can't be matched even with modern technology. (p. 285 I.E.S. Edwards)
Both the upper and lower corridors had 3 granite plugs each to deter grave robbers. It is not clear how they got the plugs in the ascending corridor. They couldn't have been brought in after woods because they wouldn't have fit. The leading theory is that they were stored inside when they finished the pyramid and put in place after woods. There is a question about how they did this supposedly the people who put the plug in place had to do it from inside blocking themselves in. There may have been a secret corridor for them to get out. I'm not sure the explanation for this is conclusive. for more see P. 115-7 Dr. I.E.S. Edwards: "The Pyramids of Egypt" 1986/1947 The Pyramid of Chefren has sides measuring 215 meters long and it is 143 meters high. the volume is approximately 2,150,000 cubic meters. The weight is approximately 5,375,000 tons
The Pyramid of Mycerinus has sides measuring 103 meters long and it is 65.5 meters high. the volume is approximately 230,000 cubic meters. The weight is approximately 575,000 tons
Cheops ruled for 23 years He allegedly built the Pyramid of Cheops while ruling. In order to build his Pyramid while he ruled he had to carve move and install 744 tons of stone every day for 23 years. Some experts address doubts about his ability to doing this by saying it was built in 100 years which would mean it wasn't built by just 1 pharaoh. This would mean it was built by at least 3-4 pharaohs. It would still involve installing 171 tons per day.
In order to explain the pyramids this way it would also mean that either the 4 biggest Pyramids were made in different centuries or that at least 2 or 3 of them were under construction at the same time. I don't see how the official explanation of this could possibly add up. It's just a simple matter of math you can easily check it yourself.
The bottom third of Menkaure's pyramid was covered with granite most of which is now gone.
Mycerinus was allegedly a much more benevolent Pharaoh than his predecessors according to legends related by Herodotus he wrote the following:

"This Prince (Mycerinus) disapproved of the conduct of his father, reopened the temples and allowed the people, who were ground down to the lowest point of misery, to return to their occupations and to resume the practice of sacrifice. His justice in the decision of causes was beyond that of all the former kings. The Egyptians praise him in this respect more highly than any other monarchs, declaring that he not only gave his judgments with fairness, but also, when anyone was dissatisfied with his sentence, made compensation to him out of his own purse and thus pacified his anger." p. 129
"An oracle reached him from the town of Buto, which said 'six years only shalt thou live upon this earth, and in the seventh thou shalt end thy days'. Mycerinus, indignant, sent an angry message to the oracle, reproaching the god with his injustice - 'My father and uncle,' he said 'though they shut up the temples, took no thought of the gods and destroyed multitudes of men, nevertheless enjoyed a long life; I, who am pious , am to die soon!' There came in reply a second message from the oracle - 'for this very reason is thy life brought so quickly to a close - thou hast not done as it behooved thee. Egypt was fated to suffer affliction one hundred and fifty years - the two kings who preceded thee upon the throne understood this - thou hast not understood it' Mycerinus, when this answer reached him, perceiving that his doom was fixed, had lamps prepared, which he lighted every day at eventime, and feasted and enjoyed himself unceasingly both day and night, moving about in the marsh-country and the woods, and visiting all the places he heard were agreeable sojourns. His wish was to prove the oracle false, by turning night into days and so living twelve years in the space of six" p. 133 Herodotus Book II (Rawlinson's translation)

At the end of the twelfth century Saladin's son and heir attempted to demolish the pyramids starting with Menkaure's pyramid. They found it almost as expensive to destroy as to build. They stayed at their job for eight months. They were not able to remove more than one or two stones each day at a cost of tiring themselves out utterly. Some used wedges and levers to move the stones while others used ropes to pull them down. When it fell it would bury itself in the sand requiring extraordinary efforts to free it. Wedges were used to split the stones into several pieces and a cart was used to carry it to the foot of the escarpment, where it was left. Far from accomplishing what they intended to do they merely spoiled the pyramid and proved themselves incapable. source: Stewert, Desmond and editors of the Newsweek Book Division "The Pyramids and Sphinx" 1971 p. 101

The "Khufu ship", a 43.6-meter-long vessel that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2500 BC, is a full-size surviving example which may have fulfilled the symbolic function of a solar barque. This boat was rediscovered in May of 1954 when archeologist Kamal el-Mallakh and inspector Zaki Nur found two ditches sealed off by about 40 blocks weighing 17 to 20 tonnes each. This boat was disassembled into 1,224 pieces and took over 10 years to reassemble. A nearby museum was built to house this boat. source: Siliotti, Alberto, Zahi Hawass, 1997 "Guide to the Pyramids of Egypt" p. 54-55

The Bent Pyramid has sides measuring 188.6 meters long and it is 105 meters high. the volume is approximately 1,245,300 cubic meters. The weight is approximately 3,112,000 tons
The Red Pyramid has sides measuring 220 meters long and it is 104 meters high. the volume is approximately 1,620,000 cubic meters. The weight is approximately 4,050,000 tons

Both of these pyramids were allegedly built by Pharaoh Sneferu who was Cheops father. He ruled for approximately the same period of time that Cheops did. I think it was 24 years. I don't know how or why they concluded that Sneferu built both these Pyramids but if its true it means that Sneferu actually moved more stone than Cheops. The total of these 2 combined is over 7 million tons approximately 1 million more than the Cheops Pyramid. In order to move that much stone while he was in power he would have had to carve, move and install 817 tons of stone every day for 24 years. However as far as I can tell there are few colossal stones like the 50 to 80 ton granite slabs covering the kings chamber at the pyramid of Cheops.
The pyramid of Meidum was also attributed to Sneferu by some this is much smaller only a fraction of the volume of stone. there is some doubt about whether kings finishing the pyramids of predecessors would do a good job. Usually if a Pharaoh died early the successor was content to make summery additions in brick and plaster. In the fifth dynasty one Pharaoh even usurped a valley building and causeway. source: Edwards, Dr. I.E.S.: The Pyramids of Egypt 1986/1947 p. 97-98
Ramses II finished his fathers temples out of love and respect for Seti I however he allegedly took credit for some other work done by predecessors including his father. This may imply he's more concerned about getting credit for loving his father.

The Valley building of Sahure's Pyramid at Abu Sir included 8 monolithic granite columns with leafs on their capitals. These were probably not more than about 10 tons each but what makes them worth noting is that over a portion 2.6 meters long they taper from 91.2 cm to 79.8 cm with the error from the mean diameter never more than 8 millimeters. I haven't tried this but I don't doubt that it requires great skill to carve granite this precisely.
The colossal roof blocks of Suhare's temple weighed up to about 220 tons based on estimates by J.S. Perring. He estimated the size of the largest blocks at 35 feet by 9 feet by 12 feet. One end of these blocks was tapered so the estimated volume is 95 cubic meters by 2.4 tons. there were a total of at least 12 to 18 blocks the smallest are less than 100 tons. all but 2 of these are now broken.
Unas, Teti, Pepi I and Merenre all built there Pyramids at Saqqara. between the 4 of them they probably had over 2 dozen roof slabs weighing 30 to 40 tons each many which collapsed by now some intentionally to obtain building material.
The Pyramid of Khendjer included a monolithic quartzite burial chamber. the weight of this chamber was estimated at 150 tons by G. Jequier. It had 2 slabs covering it they may have weighed close to 100 tons each although I don't have exact dimensions on this. This was lowered in a similar manor to the burial chamber of Amenemhet III at Hawara. There were also 2 monolithic burial chambers in a satellite building for his 2 queens. These were smaller than the kings burial chamber and they were never lowered into place and put into use. Some unexpected turn of events probably prevented there use but there is nothing to suggest that the king wasn't interred as planed. source: Edwards, Dr. I.E.S.: The Pyramids of Egypt 1986/1947 P.175-6, 181, 191-3, 246-9

The Sarcophagus of Amenemhet III
The entrance led to a passage leading to a dead end however there was a 20 ton stone which slid sideways to conceal a second passage that led to the kings burial chamber after going down 3 more passages at right angles. The burial chamber was made out of a single quartzite monolith which was lowered into a larger chamber lined with limestone. This monolithic slab weighed an estimated 110 tons according to Petrie. A course of brick was placed on the chamber to raise the ceiling then the chamber was covered with 3 quartzite slabs (estimated weight 45 tons each). Above the burial chamber were 2 relieving chambers. This was topped with 50 ton limestone slabs forming a pointed roof. Then an enormous arch of brick 3 feet thick was built over the pointed roof to support the core of the pyramid.
The previous description has been repeated by several sources including: Edwards, Dr. I.E.S.: The Pyramids of Egypt 1986/1947 p. 239
Dr. Edwards provides the dimensions of the one-piece quartzite burial chamber which he obtained from W.M.F. Petrie. They are 22 feet (6.6m) x 8 feet (2.4m) x 6 feet (1.8m). This comes to a total of 28.5 cubic meters. After you subtract for the volume of the chamber it is closer to 14 or 15 cu. m. The weight of this one piece chamber shouldn't be much if any more than 40 tons assuming the density of quartzite is about 2.6 tons per cubic meter which is about what one source says it should be. Petrie also provided the 110 ton estimate. However if these dimensions actually refer to the interior dimensions of the chamber and the walls and floor are just over 2 feet deep then the dimensions match the weight estimate.

The Tomb of Seti 1 took 16 years to complete. It was carved out of limestone, 3,000 cubic meters were excavated. The tomb was estimated to be 110 meters long however recent discoveries indicate it may have been longer and more stone may have been excavate. Estimated size of workforce is 30 to 50 men. Seti was considered a much more important pharaoh than Tutankanan, and there may have once been much more treasure in the tomb, but it was almost certainly looted so we'll never know for sure.

The temple of Karnak is famous for its 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows in the Hypostyle Hall. 122 of these columns are 10 meters tall the other 12 are 21 meters tall with a diameter of over three meters. The architraves on top of these columns weigh an estimated 70 tons. These architraves may have been lifted to these heights using levers. This would be an extremely time consuming process and would also require great balance to get to such great heights. There is a double row of sphinxes leading to the temple of Luxor. There are several colossal statues including the figure of Panejem which is 10.5 meters tall. It also has one of the largest obelisks weighing 328 tonnes standing 29 meters tall. Most of the sandstone from Karnak including the columns came from Gebel Silsila 100 miles south of Karnak. This was brought down the river in barges. This would included well over a thousand colossal drums most of which weighed between 10 and 30 tons. This is just for Karnak there would have been well over 10 to 20 thousand more drums for all the other temples although many of them may not have been quite as heavy especially the later ones built by Greeks and Romans.

The temple of Luxor has similar columns and architraves. there are hundreds of colossal stones over 50 tons at each of these Temples as well as many other of the most spectacular Egyptian Temples. It is difficult how they could possibly lift these stones up so high but they did.
One of the courtyards alone had 751 stone statues or stelae and 17,000 bronze figurines.

The following quote is from ancient-mysteries.com:
"What makes the Valley Temple so remarkable, is the sheer size of the stones used in its construction, and the incredible number of them used. The temple itself is roughly square, measuring 147 feet on each side, and it is built into the slope of the plateau with the height of its exterior walls rising from just over 20 feet on the west side, to over 40 feet on the east side. Its core structure is built entirely of huge limestone blocks, hundreds of them, regularly exceeding 200 tons each in weight, the equivalent of nearly 300 family-sized cars!"
"Not content with using hundreds of 200-ton blocks of limestone, the builders of the Valley Temple had also managed to lift these huge stones to heights of over 40 feet!"

The following quote is from tour Egypt:
"Its core wall was built of huge blocks that sometimes weighed as much as one hundred and fifty tons."

The valley Temple has huge blocks of limestone some weighing over 100 tonnes. these were quarried from the upper layers of the Sphinx nearby. The largest block at the Funerary Temple weighs an estimated 400 tonnes. source: Siliotti, Alberto, Zahi Hawass, 1997 "Guide to the Pyramids of Egypt"

They all agree that the Valley temple has colossal stones well over 100 tons. I haven't seen any exact inventory of how many colossal stones over 100 tons there are but it appears as it might be much higher than I initially suspected.
Some of the pictures seem to confirm these estimates. The largest stones appear to be the ones that have the most erosion. If you look closely at the pictures on the pyramidofman.com and theglobaleducationproject.org sites you can make them out. This also seems to imply that the biggest stones were constructed earlier or that they were carved out of stone that erodes faster. These stones are limestone which is the same as some of the other stones that were used in the temples and pyramids. This implies that it should not erode any faster. More on this in the Sphinx above.
As for the exact size and volume of stones my best guess is that there are dozens of colossal stones over 100 tons including a few over 150 tons. There are almost certainly close to if not more than 200 colossal stones well over 50 tons. Ancient Mysteries might be exaggerating but not by much. Other sources and the pictures clearly indicate there are huge Stones there including some over 150 tons. There are also dozens if not hundreds of granite blocks weighing 5 to 20 tons that were quarried in Aswan 580 miles away and hauled on barges.
The mortuary temple of Chephren was mostly reduced to ruins it originally measured 370 feet by 160 feet. The walls were mostly made of local stone in part faced with red granite. Monolithic columns of red granite similar to the valley temple supported the roof. The ends of each chamber had a single block of granite making up the entire end wall. This seems to imply at least six colossal granite stones it is unclear whether this includes the 400 ton block mentioned by Zahi Hawass. Measurements for these blocks were not provided. (p. 141 Edwards) There are also 12 seated statues of Chephren 12 tall plus over 100 other statues in the temple. the temple complexes for the entire Giza group may have included close to 500 statues.
The largest blocks of local stone at the Mortuary temple of Mycerinus were estimated at 220 tons by G.A. Reisner and the largest blocks of Aswan granite were 30 tons. source: p. 139-141, 162 Edwards, Dr. I.E.S.: The Pyramids of Egypt 1986/1947

"The cutting of the existing temple in to blocks and transporting them to the new sites about 65 meters above the existing site and about 200 meters from the river, then assembling them on the side of an artificial mountain specially made for this purpose all were quite unique a work. It was a challenge to archaeologists, engineers and every one involved in the mega project. UNESCO was there with a fund raising spree, about 40 million dollars were spent and the work has been done joining the blocks almost seamlessly." source: keralaarticles.blogspot

These sandstone blocks were up to 30 tons averaging 20 tons. The best way to preserve these colossal statues surely would have been to keep them intact. UNESCO must have concluded that either they couldn't do this or they didn't think they could do it without damaging the monuments. The ancients moved the Colossi of Memnon (700 tons each), the colossal statue of Ramses (1,000 tons) and the Trilithon stones of Baalbak (700 to 1,000 tons each) without modern technology. The original temple was 30 meters high and 35 meters wide. The colossal statues were 22 meters high each. It involved excavating 11,000 cubic meters of sandstone.

"Upon the island were built massive pillars made of five Aswan rose colored granite monoliths about 2.4 meters square by a little over 3.5 meters high and weighing, on average, around 100 tons, to support the ambulatory atop the equally massive architraves." source: tour Egypt

They provide dimensions and weight however the math is wrong. The density of Granite is about 3 tons per cubic meter. These dimensions add up to about 20 cubic meters or 60 tons. They cite John Anthony West as a source. I have seen pictures that seem to confirm the dimensions but the weight is wrong

"Pompey's Pillar" is the best-known ancient monument still standing today. It is located on Alexandria's ancient acropolis — a modest hill located adjacent to the city's Arab cemetery — and was originally part of a temple colonnade. Including its pedestal, it is 30 m (99 ft) high; the shaft is of polished red granite, 2.7 meters in diameter at the base, tapering to 2.4 meters at the top. The shaft is 88 feet high made out of a single piece of granite. This would be 132 cubic meters or approximately 396 tons.

Based on information provided on ostraca historians were able to learn a great deal about the way this group of workers lived. They and their families inhabited mud brick houses. Many households were quite large with 15 children noted in some cases, and pets such as cats, monkeys, baboons and gazelles were common.

The wives of the workers cared for the children and baked bread. Under Egyptian law they had property rights more advanced than some of the British and American wives studying them. They had title to their own wealth and a third of all marital goods. This would belong solely to the wife in case of divorce or death of the husband. If she died first it would go to her heirs, not to her spouse.

The workers lived in small stone huts near the tomb site for 8 working days then they went home to their families for 2 days off. When they missed work they recorded their excuses on the ostraca one of which is that one of the workers couldn't come to work because he was embalming his mother.

During the reign of Ramses III the laborers were so exasperated by delays in supplies they threw down their tools and walked off the job in what may have been the first sit down strike in history. Village leaders attempted to reason with them but they refused to return to work until their grievances were addressed. They told them to send to Pharaoh or vizier to address their concerns. After the authorities heard of their complaints they addressed them and they went back to work the next day. source: Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs (1992) p. 134-142

At the start of his reign, the pharaoh initiated a substantial building campaign program on the scale of Ramesses II by doubling the size of the work gangs at Deir el-Medina to a total of 120 men and dispatching numerous expeditions to the stone quarries of Wadi Hammamat and the turquoise mines of the Sinai. The Great Rock stela of Ramesses IV at Wadi Hammamat records that the largest expedition--dated to his Year 3, third month of Shemu day 27--consisted of 8,368 men alone including 5,000 soldiers, 2,000 personnel of the Amun temples, 800 Apiru and 130 stonemasons and quarrymen under the personal command of the High Priest of Amun, Ramessesnakht. The scribes who composed the text conscientiously noted that this figure excluded 900 men "who are dead and omitted from this list." Consequently, once this omitted figure is added to the tally of 8,368 men who survived the Year 3 quarry expedition, a total of 900 men out of an original expedition of 9,268 men perished during this massive Endeavour for a mortality rate of almost 10%. This gives an indication of the harshness of life in Egypt's stone quarries. Some of the stones dragged 60 miles to the Nile from Wadi Hammamat were 40 tons or more. Other Egyptian quarries including Aswan were much closer to the Nile which enabled them to use barges to transport stones long distances.
source: Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile (1993) p. 133

Dr. Zahi Hawass is the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
He is often portrayed as the leading expert of Ancient Egypt. You've probably seen him on TV if you've ever watched any shows about Egypt. He often gets very excited about his work and can be fun to watch; However he also seems to take personal offence when people raise doubts about the official version of Egyptian history. In many cases the theories that he complains about really are flawed. However the official version isn't adding up completely either. Ancient Egypt is supposed to be more primitive than modern society yet they were able to build spectacular monuments that can't be replicated today. This clearly implies that there is a big unsolved mystery here. It is highly unprofessional for the leading expert on Egypt to be behaving this way. this is the type of behavior you might expect from demagogues or politicians. When scientists that are supposed to base there beliefs on facts and evidence use ridicule to make their point and ignore inconvenient facts this raises serious doubts about there objectivity. This is true even if the scientist is right. Most if not all of these theories to explain Ancient Egypt are flawed but in order to sort out what is wrong with them you have to look at what is wrong with them not just get upset and say "That is ridiculous". For example one of the theories that came up recently was that the pyramid blocks were made out of concrete blocks made out of ground granite. If this was true they should have been able to recognize it much sooner; and it still would have used and enormous amount of work to grind the granite. It would still be an amazing wonder of the world that can't be replicated today. But the evidence doesn't support this theory. It would be much more professional to explain this without getting upset than to intimidate anyone who disagrees with you. Zahi Hawass has reacted in a similar way to people that claim Atlanteans or aliens built the pyramids. These are far fetched ideas and it may be possible to disprove them but if their not true then something else is; and the official story isn't completely adding up so if you want to figure out what the real explanation is you have to consider other possibilities even far fetched or bizarre ones because it appears as if the truth is far fetched in this case.
Never the less he is the leading representative of ancient Egypt and he has spent a lot of time studying Egypt so I still recommend you hear him out just use your own discretion.

Egypt has approximately 80 pyramids
well over 80 temples many of them built out of colossal stones weighing over 50 tons.
well over 100 mastabas
The total amount of stone carved and installed in ancient Egypt has to be over 50 million tons!
This includes at least 50 if not hundreds of colossal stones over 100 tons, hundreds if not thousands of stones over 50 tons, thousands more over 10 tons and over 10 million multi-ton stones! Many of these stones were carved with incredible precision including the granite. Granite is an extremely hard stone which they supposedly carved with nothing more than 10 pound balls of dolerite. The metals they did have at that time were to soft to chip granite.
In addition to the huge volume of stone they also created hundreds of mummies which was an extremely time consuming process. They also had an enormous amount of metal works including copper, bronze and gold statues. Most of the metal works were almost certainly plundered and recycled so there is no way of knowing just how much there was.
They also had evidence of irrigation and advanced farming techniques that you wouldn't expect from primitive people. This shouldn't be to surprising though since there is no way they could have built all these monuments if they didn't have an efficient way of feeding the people.
All this seems to have happened much faster than you would expect from normal cultural evolution.
Understanding this would be easier if an inventory of the ancient Egyptian artifacts were available to the public. I know it would be huge therefore it would be necessary to organize it and summarize it. The experts should have already done this but they haven't presented it to the public. If they didn't do this there would be no way they could understand Ancient Egypt themselves and they wouldn't be very competent "experts" at all.

Egyptian religion appears to have contributed to other religions including Christianity. "During the New Kingdom, every pharaoh was the son not only of his human father but also of the god Amen, who miraculously manifested his presence in the womb of the Queen at the moment of conception." source: Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile (1993) p.88

Nubian pyramids weren't nearly as big as the biggest Egyptian pyramids and they didn't have colossal blocks nearly as heavy but there were more pyramids. These were built with flat tops that probably once had a finial or statue on it. The temples and pyramids were made out of multi-ton stones but the largest were probably not much more than 20 tons. A granite statue was found in Jebel Barkel that stood 18 feet tall, this may have weighed 15 to 25 tons. whether this was one of the statues that may have been on top of the pyramids is unknown but they were no longer there during recent excavations. Most of these were built between 300 BCE and 300 CE and were clearly intended to imitate the Egyptians. They also adopted the Egyptian gods including Amen to worship.

Stelae 1 33 M high 3.84 M wide 2.35 M deep 520 tonnes
Stelae 2 24.6 M high 2.32 M wide 1.36 M deep 170 tonnes
Stelae 3 20.6 M high 2.65 M wide 1.18 M deep 160 tonnes
Stelae 4 18.2 M high 1.56 M wide 0.76 M deep 56 tonnes
Stelae 5 15.8 M high 2.35 M wide 1 M deep 75 tonnes
Stelae 6 15.3 M high 1.47 M wide 0.78 M deep 43 tonnes
The largest Stela may never have been successfully erected. It appears as if it was moved intact then it may have broken while they attempted to erect it.
The second largest also fell and broke. This one was moved to Rome by Mouselini in the 1920's it was recently returned to Axum using modern technology. The largest piece was about 60 tons.
The largest one still standing is the 160 ton one.
The nearest quarry was 2.6 miles away
Axum is 7,000 ft. above sea level.
source: Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World edited by Chris Scarre

The Zimbabwe complex covers 78 hectares, the weight of the perimeter wall is 18,000 tons, the circumference is 255 meters. source: Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World edited by Chris Scarre

The Oba had become the paramount power within the region. Oba Ewuare, the first Golden Age Oba, is credited with turning Benin City into a military fortress protected by moats and walls. It was from this bastion that he launched his military campaigns and began the expansion of the kingdom from the Edo-speaking heartlands.

Oba Ewuare was a direct descendant of Oduduwa, the first Oni of Ife. Oduduwa was considered divine according to some legends the god Oduduwa descended to Ife (the center of all creation) and became it's first Oni or ruler. Other legends say he came from Mecca or Egypt. a series of walls marked the incremental growth of the sacred city from 850 CE until it's decline in the 16th century. In the 15th century Benin became the greatest city of the empire created by Oba or king Ewuare. To enclose his palace he commanded the building of Benin's inner wall, a seven mile long earthen rampart girded by a moat 50 feet deep. This was excavated in the early 1960's by Graham Connah. Connah estimated that it's construction if spread out over 5 dry seasons would have required a workforce of 1,00 laborers working 10 hours a day 7 days a week. Ewuare also added great thoroughfares and erected 9 fortified gateways. Excavations also uncovered a rural network of earthen walls 4 to 8 thousand miles long that would have taken an estimated 150 million man hours to build and must have taken hundreds of years to build. these were apparently thrown down to mark out territories for towns and cities. 13 years after Ewuare's death tales of Benin's splendors lured the Portuguese traders to the city gates.
source: Time Life Lost Civilizations series: Africa's Glorious Legacy (1994) p.102-4

The Britany Brise stone was originally 66 ft. tall before it broke into 4 pieces. most estimates of it's size are about 280 tons although some have estimated that it is over 350 tons. It was transported 7.5 miles approximately 4500 BCE. I'm not sure how they dated it since it isn't made of carbon they must have used a different method. There are no written records from that time.

"This is a glorious 9 meter tall shaped and sculpted granite menhir, the stone for which has been brought here from over 4 kilometers away." source: megalithic.co.uk
Estimated weight 150 tons

"The Kerloas menhir is the biggest megalithic standing stone in France, at about 10 m high. It stands as a landmark on the top of a hill. It used to stand at 12 m high before lightning struck it, its weight is thought to be 150 tons, and it was erected about 4500 years ago." source: sophie-g.net

"Le Grand Dolmen de Bagneux"
"Some statistics: 17.3m long x 5.4m max wide x 3.1m high. The antechamber adds another 4m to the length. It is covered with four capstones the largest of which is 7.6m long and weighs 86 tons. The large overlapping back stone is 7.3m long." source: megalithic.co.uk
Originally covered by a tumulus Passage-mound), Roche aux Fees contains 42 huge stones, the heaviest of which weighs 45 tons, which are now above ground level, giving it the appearance of a great, multi-sectioned dolmen (Passage couvert).The South/East facing entrance is orientated directly towards the winter solstice sunrise.

"One of Antequera's most impressive sights is its dolmens, located in a park to the west of the town, the most spectacular of which is the Cueva de la Menga. These megalithic mass tombs, made of huge slabs of rock, were created by the original Iberian people and date back 5,000 years. There are many such dolmens in Andalucía, but none as large as the Cueva de la Menga." source: www.antequera-inland.com
The Capstone weighs over 100 tons maybe as much as 180 tons.

"It required sheer muscle power and hundreds of men to move one of these megaliths, the heaviest of them weighing probably about 45 tons." source: english-heritage.org

"The tallest standing stone in Britain, at just under 8 m in height, with a circumference of 5m. The pointed top is protected with a metal cap. Dragged from Cayton or Cornelian Bay 16 Km to the north, the stone weights an estimated 40 Tons. The stone was erected in approximately 1600 BC, and its depth into the ground may be as much as its height!" source: megalithic.co.uk

"The Swindon Stone, one of the largest stones (weighing about 65 tons), marks the north entrance." source: bluffton.edu
An attempt to straighten the two stones called 'The Cove' in 2003, revealed the fact that one of the stones, which stands 14ft (4.4m), above the ground, also exists at least 7ft (2.2m) below the ground (reaching a possible 10ft /3m deep).
The weight of this stone is calculated at around 100 tons.

"The most impressive prehistoric monument in the county is the Browne's Hill Dolmen, east of Carlow Town , believed to be the largest of its kind in Europe , with a capstone weighing 100 tons or more. Religious rites, perhaps involving human sacrifice, were performed here from 2500 BC." source: authenticireland.com
"The chamber of the Carrickglass dolmen is an accurate rectangle, and the portico is formed by adding two side-slabs outside one of the end slabs, but still under the cover. This last is a remarkable block of limestone weighing about 70 tons."

The Baths of Caracalla were built between 211 and 217 CE.
Principle dimensions
Precinct maximum: 412x393M
Internal: 323x323M
Central Block overall: 218x112M
Swimming Pool: 54x23M
Frigidarium: 59x24M height c. 41M
Coldarium: 35M diameter height c. 44M
Internal courts: 67x29M
Quantities of materials
Pozzolanna: 341,000 Cu. M
Quick lime: 35,000 Cu. M
Tufa: 341,000 Cu. M
Basalt for foundations: 150,000 Cu. M
Brick pieces for facing: 17.5 million
Large Bricks: 520,000
Marble columns in Central block: 252
Marble for columns and decorations: 6,300 Cu. M
Estimated average labor figures on site
Excavation: 5,200 men
Substructure: 9,500 men
Central Block: 4,500 men
decoration: 1,800 men
One of many statues is the colossal 4M (15ft.) statue of Aesclepius. The 12M (40 ft.) columns of the frigidarium were made of granite and they weighed close to 100 tonnes. source: "Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World" edited by Chris Scarre 1999
"The building was heated by a hypocaust, a system of burning coal and wood underneath the ground to heat water provided by a dedicated aqueduct. It was in use up to the 19th century." source: wikipedia.org
There are 1.2 million cubic meters of construction material. They would have had to install over 2,000 tons of material every day for 6 years in order to complete it in this time period. That is 3 times as much as they would have had to install at the pyramid of Cheops in order to complete that in 23 years. This complex was spread out over a larger area so they would have had more room to work in but that is still a tremendous feat assuming the time frame is correct. This includes 6,300 cubic meters of Marble for 252 columns and decorations. This is an average of up to 24 cubic meters (65 tons) per column.
Caracalla was one of the most notorious tyrants of the Roman empire.
A total of 22 well-preserved granite columns looted from the ruins are found in the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, taken there in the 12th century. These were probably the same ones that weigh close to 100 tons.

"The structure is about 30 meters (98 ft) in height, 38 meters (125 ft) including its large pedestal. The shaft is made from a series of 20 colossal Carrara marble drums, each weighing about 40 tons, with a diameter of about 4 meters (13 ft). The 190 meter (625 ft) frieze winds around the shaft 23 times. Inside the shaft, a spiral staircase of 185 stairs provides access to a viewing platform at the top." source: wikipedia.org
If the spiral staircase was carved after it was installed then the drums would have weighed over 50 tons when they were transported. If it was carved before it would have been much tougher to align the steps ahead of time. The frieze was almost certainly carved after but it wouldn't have been necessary to leave much extra stone for that.

"The 4,535 metric ton (5,000 tn) weight of the concrete dome is concentrated on a ring of voussoirs 9.1 meters (30 ft) in diameter which form the oculus while the downward thrust of the dome is carried by eight barrel vaults in the 6.4 meter (21 ft) thick drum wall into eight piers. The thickness of the dome varies from 6.4 meters (21 ft) at the base of the dome to 1.2 meters (4 ft) around the oculus. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 meters (142 ft), so the whole interior would fit exactly within a cube (alternatively, the interior could house a sphere 43.3 meters (142 ft) in diameter). The Pantheon holds the record for the largest unreinforced concrete dome." source: wikipedia.org

Even today no one is making concrete domes as spectacular as this although they probably could with modern technology. However it just wouldn't be practical. In Roman times it was one of the most spectacular engineering feats of their time perhaps on a par only with the Harbor at Caesarea. Both of which were way ahead of their time.

"Transportation presented another problem. Just about everything had to come down the Tiber by boat, including the 16 gray granite columns Hadrian ordered for the Pantheon's pronaos. Each was 39 feet (11.8 m) tall, five feet (1.5 m) in diameter, and 60 tons in weight. Hadrian had these columns quarried at Mons Claudianus in Egypt's eastern mountains, dragged on wooden sledges to the Nile, floated by barge to Alexandria, and put on vessels for a trip across the Mediterranean to the Roman port of Ostia. From there the columns were barged up the Tiber." source: wikipedia.org
I double checked the density of the columns it is actually slightly over 60 tons assuming the dimensions are right.

"The outer wall is estimated to have required over 100,000 cubic meters (131,000 cu yd) of travertine stone which were set without mortar held together by 300 tons of iron clamps." The Coliseum was built between 70 and 96 CE. source:wikipedia

The Roman Coliseum is oval shaped 156 meters by 189 meters by 52 meters high. The arena is 48x83 meters. The area of the arena is 3,357 square meters. there are 180 arches in each level. source: "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World" edited by Chris scarre 1999 (Thames and Hudson)

Aqueducts/ date built/ estimated capacity in cubic meters per second/ estimated length in kilometers/ estimated length on arches.
Apia: 312 BCE 75,000 16km 0.1
Ario Vetus: 272-269 BCE 180,000 81km 0
Marcia: 14?-140 BCE 190,000 91km 10
Tepula: 125 BCE 18,800 18km 9
Julia: 33 BCE 48,000 22km 10
Virgo: 22-19 BCE 100,000 21km 1.2
Alsietina: 2 BCE 16,000 33km 0.5
Claudia: 38-52 CE 185,000 69km 14
Anio Novus: 38-52 CE 190,000 87km 11
Traina: 109 CE ? 35-60km 0
Alesxandriana: 226 CE ? 22km 2.4
Total of 495 kilometers 58.2 kilometers on arches.
source: "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World" edited by Chris scarre 1999 (Thames and Hudson)

In 402 CE Dionysius I began building the Circuit Walls of Syracuse they were completed in 397 CE.
facts and figures
Length: 27 Kilometers
Width at base: 3.3M to 5.35M
Number of known towers on Circuit: 14 (including Euryalos)
Largest tower: 8.5Mx8.5M
Deepest ditch (at Euryalos fortress): 9M
Building that big of a fortress would have involved installing well over 300 tons of stone every day for 5 years. source: "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World" edited by Chris scarre 1999 (Thames and Hudson)

The largest stone at The Treasury of Atreus is 120 tons. there is one other colossal stone next to it that probably weighs well over 50 tons but most of them are not that big. There are still a lot of multi-ton stones including many over 10 tons.

Circuit length: 1105M
Preserved height: upto 12.5M
Width: 7.5-17M
Minimum stone required: 145,215 Cu.M or 14,420 average stones (10 tons)
Time to move 1 Block using men: 2.125 days
Time to move all Blocks using men: 110.52 years
Time to move 1 Block using oxen: 0.125 day
Time to move all Blocks using oxen: 9.9 years
based on 8 hour work day
The largest stones including the lintels and gate jambs weighed well over 20 tonnes some may have been close to 100 tonnes. source: "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World" edited by Chris scarre 1999 (Thames and Hudson)

Length: 78 meters Width 33.7 meters.
Foundation stones: 8,000 2-tonne stones, 130 5-tonne stones, 4 7-tonne corner stones.
46 columns 1.9 meters diameter 10.4 meters tall.
506 drums 5 to 10 tonnes each.
46 capitals 8 to 9 tonnes each.
138 arcitraves 4.3 to 4.7 meters long weighing upto 10 tonnes each.
231 upright stones 2.7 to 7 tonnes each.
3,690 coursing stones 1.5 tonnes each.
source: "The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World", edited by Chris Scarre (1999) Thames & Hudson, London

The Architraves on this temple are probably about 40 tons or more. Somehow they had to lift them up 56 feet high. The column drums are probably over 10 tons each and like most Greco Roman columns they have a very tight fit.

The 107 columns at Haghia Sophia were moved from other parts of the empire including Baalbek. There are 64 of the larger columns. The larger columns are supposed to be about 18 or 19 meters tall and at least 1.5 meters diameter. they are supposed to be made of granite which weighs 3 tons per cubic meter. If the largest solid column is 1.5 meters diameter 18 meters tall they would be approximately 32 cubic meters (1.5x1.5x18x0.8=32.4). If the largest solid column is 2 meters diameter 20 meters tall they would be approximately 60 cubic meters (2x2x20x0.8=64.). That would mean a range of 96 to 192 tons. If you look at the pictures that will give you a good idea how big they are. Some of these columns were transported from different parts of the empire including Baalbek.

"The vast interior has a complex structure. The vast nave is covered by a central dome which has a maximum diameter of 31.24 meters (102 ft 6 in) and a height from floor level of 55.6 meters (182 ft 5 in), about one fourth smaller than the dome of the Pantheon. The dome seems rendered weightless by the unbroken arcade of 40 arched windows under it, which help flood the colorful interior with light. Due to consecutive repairs in the course of its history, the dome has lost its perfect circular base and has become somewhat elliptical with a diameter varying between 31.24 m (102 ft 6 in) and 30.86 m (101 ft 3 in)." source: wikipedia.org

This is probably the second biggest dome in the world at that time second only to the Pantheon. the engineering involved in building a dome that big are much more than you would have expected from people living in an ancient civilization.

"The East and West Terraces together contain an astonishing array of sculpture, inscriptions, and architectural elements. Each terrace bears a set of five colossal seated figures (8-9m high) of King Antiochus and his Greco-Persian tutelary deities. In addition, there are dozens of reliefs with over-life-size figures portraying Antiochus' glorious maternal and paternal ancestors garbed in authentic period costume; each stela bears an inscription on its back that identifies the figure on the front. Investiture reliefs, scenes depicting Antiochus being greeted individually by each member of his pantheon, and the earliest known calandrical horoscope also appear. Numerous statues of lions and eagles guard the site's features, and altars are profuse." source: learningsites.com These don't seem to be carved out of single pieces of stone but some of the pieces are probably close to if not over 10 tons each.

Approximately 9,500 BCE
"According to Andrew Curry, the author of the Science article, Gobekli Tepe is situated on the most prominent hilltop for miles around. It consists of at least 20 underground rooms that contain a number of T-shaped stone pillars that are 8 feet tall and weigh about 7 tons. The pillars are engraved with images of animals, including leopards, snakes and spiders." source: dispatch.com "Schmidt and his colleagues estimate that at least 500 people were required to hew the 10- to 50-ton stone pillars from local quarries, move them from as far as a quarter-mile away, and erect them." source: archaeology.org

"Its dimensions before being cut, according to the fall 1882 edition of La Nature were 7 x 14 x 9 m. Based on the density of granite, its mass was determined to be around 1500 tonnes." sources: wikipedia, La Nature magazine, second semester 1882, cnum.cnam.fr
This stone was allegedly moved 4 miles. However I'm a little skeptical of the weight estimate it is based on the assumption that it is 7 meters high but according to one of the pictures it doesn't appear to be more than 5 meters high if that. This is still worth looking into since it may be one of the best documented stone moving efforts. I can't help but wonder why they would want to move such a large stone for this purpose in the 18th century or at any time.

What may be the single largest stone on Malta is found in the Northern wall of the Hagar-Qim temple; It is over 7m long, and is estimated to weigh about 70 tons. Most estimate claim that the largest stone in Malta is only 20 tons however after looking at the dimensions (Maximum just over 7 meters wide by maximum just over 5.2 meters high depth unknown perhaps 1 meter) and picture I have concluded that it is probably about 26 cubic meters. This should be far closer to the 70 ton estimate than the 20 ton estimate. The picture can be seen at the last art-and-archaeology site posted below it is 36 on the list. Which makes me wonder why the 20 ton estimate has spread so much unchallenged since it is so easy to check.

The largest stone remaining of all the Maltese temples lies at the Eastern end of Hagar Qim and measures 19 feet long by 9 feet tall by 2 feet thick. It weighs 57 tons. (Source: Insight Compact Guide to Malta, APA Publications (HK) Ltd, 1995)

There are 2 different sets of dimensions here it is probably because this is a rough cut stone and on used maximum dimensions and the other used minimum. It is interesting to not the one with the larger dimensions may have cited the lower 20 ton estimate which is certainly low. The 57 ton estimate seems the most reliable.